Padilla en Sevilla: London & updates

It’s strange that my life here is becoming more and more normal to me. I have a daily routine, have fallen in love with Mati, participate in class, and have made friends. My Spanish is improving so much- I feel like once I took the pressure of myself to become fluent, the words started flowing much easier. I used to beat myself up if I couldn’t communicate like I could in English. I’d be in a class and if the professor spoke too quickly, I’d blame myself for not understanding. “Sam, you’ve been taking Spanish for 15 years, what’s wrong with you!?” I just had to accept the fact that everyone learns at a different pace and in a different way. For me, 15 years of Spanish class wasn’t going to give me the tools necessary for idiomatic success- it’s the complete emersion that I needed. I have learned more in the past two moths about the Spanish language than I have in the past 15 years, combined. Adam gave me some great advice the other day. He said to just go for it- just speak. I’ll make a mistake, that’s a given, but who cares? When will I see these people again? When will I be in Spain again? When will I be the only person in the class who isn’t from Spain? Never. So I started to talk more, and take myself a little less seriously. It has helped me immensely.

My grammar teacher, Juan, always says that when we think and talk in English it’s like we’re driving a high-speed jet plane. We can get wherever we want quickly and with ease. In Spanish, however, we’re on foot. We take the long route. It’s frustrating to think at the speed of a jet but have to talk at a snails pace. I think I’m walking briskly now. I find myself using the verbs “tener” and “hacer” a lot- without even thinking. Like if I have to explain something, those are my go-to verbs. I feel like I can explain just about anything with those two words, and “ir” and “venir.” It’s all becoming clearer. Mati was right, “poco a poco.”

Speaking of Mati, I can’t express how obsessed with her I am. I really feel like she understands me. Kirsten has a late class two days a week so Mati sits with me as I eat dinner and we chat it up. Last week, we were talking about getting older. I compared the process to fine wine and she started laughing hysterically. “Poco a poco- mira, ahora sabes todo!” She remembers a lot, too. We were talking about being forgetful- and she said that I was! I quickly responded, “Yo? Porque yo?” She recalled the first time that we met in the lobby of Hotel Bequer. Luisa, one of the directors of my program, said I needed to show my passport before I could leave the hotel. I didn’t really remember where I put it and started shuffling through my stuff to find it like a crazy woman. She also recalled a morning a few weeks ago where I couldn’t find my keys and was shuffling through my bag in the kitchen. She’s so right- I’m a mess.

Mati and some huge vegetable Luiqui brought home from the market

During one of our dinners together, I asked her if I should join a club at the university to meet people. She looked at me like I had ten heads. “Porque? Eres una chica agradable y muy abierta. Sólo necesitas sonreir y decir hola! Como te llamas? “ So that’s what I did the next day. Now, I have a whole row of people I sit with in my derechos humanos class- one girl from Italy, one from Sweden, and one guy from Germany.

Mati also hates cooking. Every day I offer to help her clean/cook and she refuses. I actually wouldn’t mind it at all. I kind of want to learn how to cook so when I live in the city with katerg3 this summer, I can cook for us. Mati makes the BEST homemade paella. We ate that for lunch, some pringa (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pring%C3%A1) and a big juicy orange. Heaven on earth.

So I’ve been traveling a lot lately. I went to London this past weekend. I fell in love with the place. It’s so beautiful- clean- friendly- English. I missed idiomatic familiarity. I stayed with Jill, one of my sorority sisters, in her dorm/apartment in Gloucester, a beautiful neighborhood along the Circle Line. She made me a little bed on her floor out of couch pillows. I slept so soundly. I really liked her two roommates, too. She had her own bathroom with a real shower. My time in Europe has made me appreciate good hot showers (Mati’s shower is kind of unpredictable with water temperature/doesn’t drain).

Jill, Jenna, Katie, and I explored the city. One day, Jill and I walked all along the water and hit up every tourist attraction. She’s really the best- I had a great time with her. Very upbeat and happy- it rubbed off on me.

The best part of London for me was seeing “Love Never Dies,” the sequel to “Phantom of the Opera.” It’s not playing in America yet, so seeing it in London was so cool. Sierra Boggess, the actress who played Ariel in the Little Mermaid on Broadway, plays Christine in this production and we were lucky enough to catch her last performance. The New York Times said the production was like drawing a mustache on the Mona Lisa, but I really enjoyed it. Everyone was really into the show, too. I have seen many many musicals but never encountered an audience as into a show as this one. The excitement was infectious.

I also loved that Melissa, the old president of AEPhi, was also in London the same weekend as us. It was great to see her- she’s a riot. Me, Jenna, KRD, and MAS sat in a department store café in London and just talked about AEPhi for two hours. It was so nice- it was like we were in the AEPhi kitchen again, BSing over Chocklay’s Sunday brunch omelets.

The last day I was in London, KRD, Jill, Jenna and I went to Oxford for the morning. That was super fun- I felt like I stepped into a Harry Potter book. I also ate my first bagel in three months there. I almost started crying. Pictures below!